Page 15 of The Missing Sentinel
“I am overwhelmed,” Drexley murmured.
“That is understandable. You did not expect to ever have a mate, and everything in your life is about to change.”
“I do not know what I will do without Adney to guide me. For as long as I can remember, I have been at his side and learning from him.”
“You must be very close to Adney.”
“He is my necromancer. Of course we have a strong bond. You have not mentioned your necromancer. You have not been gone long, but you must be missing him or her.”
“My necromancer has been dead for nearly a millennium. I do not miss him, and I did not like him. To put it mildly, the man was evil and an asshole.”
Shocked at the vehemence in Ducarius’s voice, Drexley cleared his throat awkwardly and tried to gather his scattered wits. “I see. Well then, I suppose you need not worry about him missing you.”
“Not him, but I have a family, and I fear what lengths they have gone to since I went missing yesterday.”
“A family? Sentinels do not have families.”
“This one does,” Ducarius stated firmly. “You will like them.”
Unsure how to respond, Drexley shrugged. “I have not met them.”
“You are my mate; they will embrace you as family immediately. Have no fear about your welcome.”
Drexley remained flummoxed about matebonds, how to define his reactions to Ducarius, and what any of it meant for his future, but the other sentinel radiated nothing but confidence. For some reason, Drexley found it comforting.
“Right,” Drexley said for lack of anything better to say.
Another tiny smile graced Ducarius’s face and added to his masculine beauty. “Tell me about the book on your lap. What are you reading?”
Delighted to speak of something he could discuss without wading further into the quagmire of his thoughts and swirling emotions, Drexley grinned. “It is about the early history of the current Arch Lich. As the first Fate-born ruler, his birth was both a surprise and celebrated. It goes into vast detail about the former Arch Liches and how they rallied together to help him build a cooperative government designed to aid him. They became instrumental as the Arch Lich grew older and focused more on enjoying pursuits suited to a young person instead of his role of ruler. Without the elders, the Order of Necromancia may have crumbled. The Arch Lich is lucky to have them.”
Raising a hand to rub his chin, Ducarius bit his lip. Then he snorted. Drexley’s mouth fell open as the stoic sentinel burst into laughter.
“What is so amusing?” Drexley asked, perplexed by Ducarius’s outburst.
“Please…” Ducarius begged through chuckles. “Please save that book. The Arch Lich would love to add it to his collection.”
“I cannot save it; Adney created it with magic. It will disappear with his realm. You also did not answer my question. Why are you laughing?”
Ducarius shook his head as he tried to contain his chuckles. “Remind me to explain everything in the future. I do not want to overwhelm you with too much information today. You deserve to adjust to everything that has changed in five hundred years at a reasonable pace that does not completely boggle your mind.”
It was disappointing not to know what had transformed Ducarius from serious to nearly giggling, but Drexley was already dazed by the rapid changes in his life. Ducarius was kind not to add to the growing tangle in Drexley’s mind. In fact, theother sentinel had been nothing but pleasant since his arrival to the library.
Somehow it added to his beauty, and Drexley wasn’t sure if he was dreading or looking forward to more dreams later fueled by the man Fate had dropped into Adney’s realm. A voice from somewhere deep inside told him he already knew the answer to that and he was a fool to try lying to himself.
Chapter 8
Irritated and rife with anxiety, Lich Sentinel Alaric Daray frowned severely as he sat to tug on his boots. A man walked into the room, and Alaric immediately glanced up to watch him enter. He wore an ancient T-shirt with a faded winged skull, a pair of old jeans, and scuffed sneakers. It was a simple outfit worn by a complex man who never failed to heat Alaric’s blood despite the churning emotions keeping the sentinel from relaxing.
“I could help search,” Arch Lich Chander Daray insisted as he tucked his hands into denim pockets.
Alaric rolled his eyes. “Duc went to Europe and has yet to return. Which means we are searching there. On land owned by and next to the Consilium Veneficus. The wizards there hate necromancers, and you in particular. You are staying here.”
“I’d have two sentinels with me. Bax and Ben wouldn’t leave me alone for a second.”
While Alaric trusted the two Daemon Lords who’d protected Chander for centuries, there was zero reason to put his beloved mate in danger. “There are literally hundreds of sentinels searching for Duc around the clock. We have everything under control.”
Ducarius had been missing for two days, and Alaric was frantic. The Skeleton Lord was a formidable foe and a loving member of the Daray family. There was no way he’d go off on an adventure without sending word of his whereabouts, and whatever danger he’d encountered had to be intense for Ducarius not to immediately get away from the threat. Alaric was also pissed off.
